Comments on: Snallygaster Returns

By: HOOSIERHUNTER

HOOSIERHUNTER — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 17:35:13 +0000

mangy flying squirrels or otters caught in an updraft.

By: Lightning Orb

Lightning Orb — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 08:12:56 +0000

Gargantuan mutant snake strung up to han glider? Sure sounds like a pleasant old creep whatever it was

By: Point Radix

Point Radix — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 06:34:48 +0000

Obviously just a mundane, everyday Dragon

By: cryptidsrus

cryptidsrus — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 17:59:45 +0000

Thanks for the heads up on this, Loren.

Never heard of this creature before.

Yep, smacks of the Jersey Devil—Maryland style.

By: Fwooper

Fwooper — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 15:49:44 +0000

Where did the name ‘Snallygaster’ come from?

By: Cortes

Cortes — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 07:36:19 +0000

I wonder if this has any connection with the “flying men” rural people reported to see, which ended up being parachuters, whom the witnesses, mostly immigrants unaccustomed to such technology had never seen, and thus extrapolated by the press into something more fanciful.

Perhaps most flying animals may be along these lines: planes, large cranes and other birds of large size usually unseen in such areas.

By: Help

Help — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 04:24:30 +0000

I have this book. The author has one chapter about the snallygaster’s history with black culture but also covers a lot of other history from the 18th century to modern day. It’s a short book (less than 100 pages) but he seems to have done a lot of research and found some cool stuff regarding its early links to the NJ Devil. There’s also some more illustrations like the cover that would make great t-shirts. If I had one complaint it would be that I wanted more visual info like maps or photos, but overall this book is pretty cool for Halloween and taught me a lot about a legend I’d never heard of before.

By: Bob K.

Bob K. — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 19:52:17 +0000

Fascinating stuff, and completely new to me. I’m wondering if a further investigation into the matter, at least as far as the description of the animal from a cross-section of witnesses, would reveal whether or not this is a single creature being sighted in the US, or perhaps sightings of pterodactyls, Jersey Devils, and the snallygaster-or any combination thereof. As you pointed out, this is an untapped story. A comparison of a number of eyewitness sketches would be most revealing.

By: Mnynames

Mnynames — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 19:18:59 +0000

So in January, 1909, when some strange, winged thing is spotted in New Jersey, it’s called the Jersey Devil, but just a month later in Maryland it’s a Snallygaster? Without knowing much else, it’s hard to say for sure, but this smacks just a bit of a bandwagon, no? I mean, New Jersey makes national news with a flying beastie terrorizing the countryside, with reports bleeding over into Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, and New York, so why not push your own critter forward to give your own state some attention?

Then again, that may just be the crass cynic in me coming out. After all, even during that phenomenal week in January, what was reported was called any of a dozen names- Jersey Devil, flying horse, Jabberwock, the What-Is-It?, etc., so using a new name a month later isn’t really anything out of the ordinary.

Regardless, I’m definitely gonna have to get me this book!

By: red_pill_junkie

red_pill_junkie — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 18:19:17 +0000

Great art cover!